The New Lawn Stadium: Forest Green Rovers

Another Way, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, GL6 0FG, England

Forest Green Rovers have played at a ground called 'The Lawn' pretty much ever since the club was formed. Originally they played at The Lawn Ground, which was known as a place 'at the top of the hill'. That, in turn, led to the one of the club’s nicknames, The Little Club On The Hill. In 2006 they moved to The New Lawn, a stadium with a capacity of a little over 5000. It is, as we’ll explain in more detail later, one of the most eco-friendly stadiums in the world.

The club itself was established back in 1889 by a reverend named EJH Peach. Back then it was just called Forest Green until the 'Rovers' was added in 1893, then in 1894 it was renamed as Nailsworth Association Football Club in order to ensure the town had a club to represent it. It was re-established as Forest Green Rovers in 1898. They were one of the founding members of Mid-Gloucestershire League, which later folded in 1901, meaning that the club moved to the Dursley & District League.

Stats

The New Lawn Stadium Stats

Year Opened

2006

Capacity

5,032

Average Attendance

2,772

Record Attendance

4,836 (Forest Green Rovers v Derby County (2009))

Pitch Size

101 x 64 (6464)

Nickname

The Lawn

Owner

Forest Green Rovers Football Club

Clubs Hosted

Forest Green Rovers, Gloucester City

First Fixture

Forest Green Rovers v Swindon Town (12/07/2006)

Forest Green Rovers Stats

Year Founded

1889

Nickname

Rovers, The Green, FGR, The Little Club On The Hill, Green Army

Club Mascot

Green Devil

Rivals

Wrexham AFC, Lincoln City, Gloucester City A.F.C.

Previous Stadiums

The Lawn Ground

Kit

Bright Green & Black (Home) / Black & White (Away)

Training Ground

Forest Green Training Centre

Shirt Sponsor

Ecotricity

Team Owner

Dale Vince

Record Goalscorer

James Norwood (50)

Record Appearances

Steve Perrin (201)

The New Lawn Stadium Photos

{gallery}the-new-lawn/lightbox{/gallery}

The New Lawn Stadium Seating Plan & Where to Sit

quisnovus / Flickr.com

The New Lawn is very much built in the traditional English style, with four separate stands on each side of the pitch. The main stand runs along one side of the pitch and is opposite a smaller standing section. There are two small stands behind each of the goals, but most of the sections are standing as there are only 2000 seats in the ground, with an overall capacity of just over 5,000.

Forest Green Rovers Ticket Prices

Tickets for Rovers matches are cheaper by £1 if you buy them in advance, and as would be expected it is cheaper to watch from the terraces than it is from a seat. Prices for adults and concessions will all fall somewhere between the price bracket below:

Adults: £17.00 - £22.00

Concessions: £13.00 - £17.00

How To Get Forest Green Rovers Tickets

The club’s official website is always the best place to head to buy tickets, but you can also call them directly or pick them up in person from the reception of the stadium. SMS tickets are also available.

Where to Buy

Getting To The New Lawn Stadium

Train - Stroud Train Station is the closest to the ground, located as it is about fifteen minutes away by car.

Bus - There’s a bus stop right outside the ground on Nympsfield Road where bus numbers 63 and 65 stop. They’re the ones you’ll want to keep an eye out for if you’re hoping to get the bus to the stadium.

Car - The ground is located in the middle of the M5 and A433, so if you can get to either of those then you’re not far away. The A46 is probably the closest main road to the ground and by the time you get onto that there’ll be signs pointing you in the right direction.

By Air - If you’re hoping to fly in to watch a Forest Green Rovers match then Gloucestershire Airport is the closest, located about seventeen miles away from Stroud.

Taxi - A cab from the centre of Stroud out to The New Lawn will take about fifteen minutes to complete its journey and will likely cost approximately £17.

Parking Near The New Lawn Stadium

There is a large parking area at the stadium with 230 spaces. As the stadium has yet to sell out for a game you’ll almost certainly be able to get a space there.

Say what you want about chain hotels but at least you know what you’re getting. The Holiday Inn Express on Junction 12 of the M5 is about eight miles from the stadium and your stay includes a buffet breakfast built into the price. There’s a restaurant, a bar and three different meeting rooms in the hotel, as well as free Wi-Fi and free parking. More details.

Less than eight miles from the ground is this pleasant country house-style hotel with just ten rooms. As well as the personal treatment that automatically comes from such a small venue you’ll also get free Wi-Fi and free parking. There’s a bar and lounge area within the hotel and you can also access a garden if the weather’s nice. More details.

The closest hotel to The New Lawn is this pub in Stroud, around one mile away. There are only six rooms, so if you want to stay here then you’ll have to be quick off the mark. You can get a cooked breakfast as part of the cost of your room, plus there’s free Wi-Fi in the reception area. You can park for free here and, as it’s part of a public house, there’s obviously a bar and restaurant within the hotel’s grounds. More details.

Pubs & Bars Near The New Lawn Stadium

They know a thing or two about good pubs round these parts. The Woolpack, made famous by Laurie Lee, is only up the road from Stroud, although since it isn't much good for sports we haven't included it in our selections below.

The Green Man

You can’t really get a better place to watch football than within a football stadium, even if you are watching it on TV there. The Green Man is a pub within the grounds of The New Lawn Stadium and is open before and after games, welcoming both home and away supporters. You can get a few drinks such as Stroud Brewery Ales and a decent bite to eat, plus there are screens everywhere to watch live sport on.

Star Inn

Very much a 'typical pub' and located in the heart of Stroud, the Star Inn is everything you’d want from a public house in a pleasant town. There’s a car park, real ales on tap and a couple of big screens dotted around the place that will show any live cricket, rugby, football or other type of sport. There’s free Wi-Fi here, too, and you can get a good homemade meal if you’re hungry and that takes your fancy.

Queen Victoria Inn

5 Gloucester Street, Stroud, GL5 1QG (01453 762 396)

Another decent local pub in the centre of Stroud, the Queen Victoria Inn is a large enough place to mean that they can host live music events on a regular basis. There’s also a large outdoor area, which is ideal if the weather’s good and you want to soak up the rays. There are TVs around the venue that will show live sport if there’s something good on. You’ll find all of the usual drinks that you’d expect to find in a pub, plus bar snacks if you get a bit peckish.

Facilities

Depending on how you look at it, the food options are fantastic or awful. On the one hand they sell award winning pie's as well as fajita's, burgers and other freshly made delicacies. On the other hand, the stadium is 100% vegan. No harm in going vegan for the day, though, and it's something a bit different to the usual greasy spoon type nosh you get elsewhere.

Prices

Programme: 3.00

Pie: 3.50

Cup of tea: 1.70

Hospitality

There are two main hospitality options for matches at The New Lawn. You can enjoy delicious food, alcoholic drinks and a decent view in one of seven hospitality boxes big enough for ten people. Or, if you’d rather not, then you can sign up for some VIP Dining. This includes a table in the Carol Embrey Suite with table service and a great selection of food, plus a reserved parking space and seats directly outside the box.

Private Hire

There are numerous options for venue hire at The New Lawn Stadium, including The Green Man pub, which is a public house within the complex. Whether you’re wanting to host a birthday party, a charity dinner, a disco or a stag do then you’ll be able to do just that, with the events team able to accommodate up to 200 people. One of the team will be assigned to you to ensure you get a service tailored exactly to your needs.

Stadium Tours & Museum

As we write this you can’t do a tour of the stadium, nor is there a museum. That’s unlikely to change in the future, but stranger things have happened.

About Forest Green Rovers

Nick / Flickr.com

We mentioned earlier how the club started out, being formed in 1889 and undergoing a few name changes after that. What we didn’t tell you was about the continued complications that involved the club in the following years, such as their withdrawal from the Dursley & District League in 1908 in the wake of finishing that season with zero points. In 1911 the club merged with Nailsworth to become Nailsworth & Forest Green United. Another major name change occurred in 1989 when they became Stroud Football Club, though that didn’t last long until they returned to being Forest Green Rovers.

Having previously been a founding member of the Mid-Gloucestershire League, they were also one of the founding clubs of the Gloucestershire County League in 1968. It’s fair to say that the club has bounced around the lower levels of British football for most of its existence, getting promoted to League Two for the first time in its history at the end of the 2016-2017 season thanks to a play-off victory over Tranmere Rovers. That win meant not only that Forest Green Rovers played in the Football League for the first time, but also that Nailsworth became the smallest town ever to have a football club playing in the Football League.

The New Lawn Stadium History

Nick / Flickr.com

Work began on Forest Green Rovers’s new football stadium in 2005 after its design was approved by council members. It cost £3 million and took a little over a year to be completed. As well as the stadium there’s also a gym and sauna, a pub, a leisure club and conference facilities on site. As mentioned earlier, the stadium is one of the most eco-friendly in the world. In 2011 a decision was made to make it an organic pitch, the first of its kind. It is fertilised with manure, meaning that it’s got a very specific smell to it. There are solar panels in place, allowing the stadium to generate its own electricity, plus there’s even a robotic lawn mower that trims the turf.

Dale Vince, the club’s chairman and owner of Ecotricity, is a former New Age traveller and a green energy industrialist. He has worked hard to grow the stadium’s environmental features. This includes the things mentioned above as well as the fact that the stadium collects rainwater and recycles it. It is a meat-free football ground, becoming the first to be entirely vegan. This was kick-started in 2014 when it hosted a vegan football match between Forest Green Rovers and Lincoln City. The refusal to sell meat isn’t to everyone’s taste, of course, with the likes of chicken and steak pie a staple at most football stadiums. The club believes that its vegan diet has aided players’s fitness since it was introduced.

Future Developments

Nick / Flickr.com

In 2015 the club unveiled fans to build a new £100 million facility that will include a new stadium. It won’t improve the capacity, levelling out at about 5000, but it will be one of the greenest sports centres anywhere in the world. Because of this there are unlikely to be any major developments done to The New Lawn between now and the new stadium’s construction.